Pebble, the maker of the original e-ink smartwatch, has a lot of passionate and loyal customers, and those customers are pissed. Following the rumours that Pebble is about to crumble under the heel of Fitbit, the company's many Kickstarter backers are in an uproar.

Outside of big brands like Apple and Samsung, there are only two companies that really define wearables: Pebble and Fitbit. Fitbit is the hugely successful fitness tracker brand that's been struggling to make a device that isn't just long-lasting and great at tracking steps, but as functional as an Apple Watch. Pebble is the smartwatch brand that's built such a device. According to a report from The Information, these two companies are about to join forces, with Engadget reporting that Fitbit will be buying Pebble for $US34 to 40 million ($45 to 50 million).

Apple is going to try and close the gap between its mapping application, Apple Maps, and Google Maps by deploying a fleet of drones to scan streets, according to Bloomberg. Details are sparse, but what we do know sounds absurd.

Air Hogs has released enough Star Wars drones at this point you could probably do a pretty good job of recreating the space battle over Endor from Return of the Jedi, if you had the time or the money — but its latest R/C toy is certainly one of its most impressive yet.

Video: Seeing this drone fly through Venice Beach in Robert McIntosh's Fresh Squeeze in what looks like a perfectly planned flight is just lovely. The drone zips through a bicycle, seamlessly slips inside handrails, pops into holes and cuts through structures so seamlessly that it feels like the world is unfolding before you. It's especially nice because it's going in reverse, so you don't see what you're going to see next until you already see it. Uh, if that makes any sense.

The old-school mechanical displays you'd find at airports listing arrival and departure times have long since been replaced with flat screen TVs. They're not gone forever, though, thanks to one company who thinks flip-disc displays deserve a revival.

DJI recently announced its new Inspire 2 drone, which has two micro four-thirds cameras in a package squarely aimed at filmmakers and video creators. At the Inspire 2 launch, DJI said that it would accelerate to 80km in four seconds and had a top speed of 108km/h. It turns out, that's too fast.

Amazon is building a new version of its artificially intelligent Echo speaker with a screen, according to a Bloomberg report. The device is currently being worked on by the company's secretive Lab126 research team that was also responsible for some of Amazon's greatest flops and successes like the Fire Phone, Echo Dot and Fire tablet. It sounds weird and kind of unwieldy — but it might prove to be a great idea.

Furby's were the hottest toy of the Christmas season back in 1996. Now, there's a new edition that updates the strange little creature with modern tech for modern kids. Nothing prepared me for what this thing would look like while it is being cut in half by a water jet.

Fitbit's Alta is the fitness tracker that anyone that wants a fitness tracker should buy: it's small and comfortable, versatile, and has excellent battery life. At $169 it's decent value but Officework's sub-$100 price makes it properly tempting.

Manufacturing has seen a dramatic downturn in Australia, particularly in the automotive sector. So how do we keep this trend from continuing? As the great Billy Hughes said "science will guide the manufacturer into greener pastures", and CSIRO has a plan - we're talking sensors, data analytics, robotics, automation, 3D printing and augmented - or virtual - reality.

US retailers are a weird mob. Over the Thanksgiving weekend they run not one, but two huge shopping sales for ravenous bargain hunters - Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you forgot to hit the online stores on the 25th, have no fear: many of the deals are still available and there's a stack more for Cyber Monday. Here are the best deals so far...

Video: If it falls upon you to carve the roast at a family dinner, you'll understandably be a little nervous when it comes time. But there's no reason to stress over slicing up the perfect portions if you have access to a hundred thousand dollar industrial water jet machine.

Lately, the futuristic e-cigarettes have become a different kind of health hazard. Yesterday, a man at Grand Central Terminal in New York suffered burns after an e-cigarette exploded in his pants. The security video of the incident is remarkably similar to an e-cigarette explosion caught on tape earlier this month.

Sphero's Force Band, a gesture-based wearable remote that made you feel like an actual Jedi while you controlled its wildly popular BB-8 toy, is now further increasing your "mastery" of The Force with the addition of IFTTT support letting you control other things in your home, including your smartphone, using simple arm motions.